I am testing a theory, and, realizing you are all at least as busy as I am, am hoping you can still lend me five minutes in a response to help me in a bit of current research...my theory is this:

There is not a guidebook for teachers of 0-level students.

I do not mean a text/workbook for students, as these are impractical at this level, and I do not mean a general "how to be a teacher" text for instructors, as there are plenty of good books in this area. I mean a specific text that walks teachers through the first year of working with students who at 0-level...meaning they have absolutely no English. These are the students who are often preliterate, who walk into the classroom without a single word of English language. These students may or may not have been privy to education in another country previously, and often they are refugees or migrant workers.

The kind of text I am looking for, and that I don't believe exists, is one which offers a general sense of direction, without necessarily offering daily lesson plans. It should give a general order of topics to be presented, give suggestions of how to present this information, include all skill areas, and be appropriate for upper middle school to adult level courses. This text should include literacy and academic instruction cooperatively.

If you need me to clarify any further, please let me know. I appreciate any and all feedback you can offer...thanks so very much!

i don't quite understand what you mean. by the way, what age are your students in? if they are children under ten, i think it maybe work if you teach them some communicative or functional skills/ knowledges. and you also mentioned that most of them are refugees, so they need to learn how to communicate with others in their daily life.

I don't know of any text that can help you, although I'm sure one exists somewhere.

We covered this on my teacher training course way back when. If they are pre-literate, you'll need to start with the alphabet and lots and lots of visuals and TPR (total physical response).

For the sake of practicality, you'll need to cover functional language that they can use to order bread and that kind of thing.

By the way, in my experience, adult or teen students who have never been to school before will take MUCH longer to learn than those who have. They lack the most basic study skills that others take for granted.

I too have been searching for a book to guide me through the teaching of Chinese seniors in an esl survival-level class. I agree the makeup of the class is a variable. My class is composed of Chinese seniors who have been in Canada for 2 or 3 years, and who can't get far past "hello". Many of them were teachers; I have one doctor and one engineer, so they're literate in their L1 and sympathetic to my charades.

Since I'm the lone teacher, I use a pair of hand puppets to simulate very short dialogues, ie "Hello. How are you? Fine, thanks." or "Goodbye. See you next Wednesday".

I'm keeping carefull notes, and should be ready to write the needed text in about five years.

here is some simple note you!
Refer to the unit you are currently teaching. Many preschools have a set curriculum that students stick on to in a given time frame. If the school has more than one teacher per grade, all teachers are expected to work on that specific unit during that time.
Write a detailed lesson explanation. Cover all the steps that you plan to take during the lesson, such as when you will begin an activity and when it should end. If possible, break down each part of the lesson into five-minute sections. Use very simple language so the kids can easily follow you.